The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. These ICs are usually fabricated by processing a semiconductor wafer. The processing of the semiconductor wafer may require holding the semiconductor wafer with an apparatus such as a wafer chuck. However, current wafer holding apparatuses may cause wafer defects such as stress defects or bubble defects that may render ICs ineffective or unusable. Thus, while existing wafer holding apparatuses have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect.